Death of the Elements
by Alaskapigeon
Summary: I never knew I was different. I thought I was the same, until I was six, when I learned that I could talk to Pokemon. From that day forward, I knew that it was my destiny to be the greatest trainer of all time. I would rise from the shadows into the sun.
1. Prologue

When I was a little kid, we never really had Pokemon around. It's not that my parents didn't like them, it's just that they were both really, really allergic to Pokemon dander. Even though I begged like crazy, I was never allowed to have a pet Pokemon. In fact, I never even got close to a real Pokemon, until I was six, when I went over to some other girl's house. I don't remember her name, but I remember the Pokemon, and the moment I realized when I was different.

After school, we walked to the girl's house, since her home was only a few blocks away. The whole time, she was jabbering about barbies or something, but I was too busy daydreaming to listen. When we got to her house and she opened the door, I heard barking.

"Don't worry," she said, "That's just our Growlithe, Max. He won't bite, he's really friendly."

A Growlithe! My heart leaped into my throat. A real, live Growlithe? I knew everything about them. Stats, moves, nutritional requirements. I knew everything about them, except what it was like to be near a real one. I shivered in anticipation. I stepped through the door, and was bowled over by a blur of orange and white fur. The Growlithe slobbered all over my face.

The girl pulled her Growlithe off me and asked worriedly, "Are you okay?"

I just smiled and said, "That was awesome!"

She calmed down and let the Growlithe continue to sniff me. I giggled nervously, and pet him. He stopped sniffing me, and looked up at me with his head tilted to the side and his tongue hanging out. I'll never forget that moment.

"Do you have any treats?" he asked.

I didn't think there was anything unusual about a talking Growlithe so I said, "No I'm sorry, I don't have any treats."

The Growlithe's ears drooped for a minute, before perking back up, "Can we play?"

"Sure!" I said, "What do you want to play?"

He opened his mouth to reply, before I felt the girl poke me.

"What are you doing?" she asked. She looked at me like there was something wrong.

"Oh, you're Growlithe was asking me if I would play with him," I tried to explain.

The girl looked confused for a moment, before she laughed and said, "Oh! You're kidding."

I was kind of angry and confused myself. What did she mean I was kidding? I quietly told the Growlithe I couldn't play after all, and he went to sit sadly in the corner. I played at the girl's house for the rest of the afternoon. I can't remember her house or what we played. All I can remember was the Growlithe, and our short conversation.

That night, before I went to bed, I looked in the mirror I had in my bedroom. I stared at my reflection, trying to figure out what was wrong with me. That girl had said I was weird several times throughout the day. Was I? I didn't see anything wrong with me. Just my normal blonde hair and cornflower blue eyes. I turned my head to the side a little, and the lamp light caught my features, hiding half of my face in shadow, and illuminating the other half. Maybe I was different. But maybe it was a good kind of different. I smiled at myself, before turning off the lamp and climbing into bed.

Tomorrow, I'd find out what made me different, and I'd use it to make myself Pokemon Champion. I had never dared to dream that before. Not with my background of few Pokemon interactions, but I knew I'd do whatever it took.


	2. The Great God Shinx

_Ten Years Later..._

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! I groaned and hit the alarm clock with my hand. Why am I up so early? It's the start of summer vacation. I rolled over and saw the date function on my clock. Oh. I jumped out of bed and began throwing on clothes. Jeans and a t-shirt were fine. I grabbed the bag I had packed a few weeks ago in excitement, and turned to face my room. I would never have to return to this lavender prison, filled with material possessions , mostly Pokedolls. I shivered. Pokedolls were hideous mockeries of the real creatures they portrayed, and today I would finally own one.

I ran down stairs, singing out loud, holding an empty Pokeball in one hand, and my brand new trainer card in the other.

"I never thought my life could be, anything but catastrophe, but suddenly I begin to see, a bit of good luck for me," I sang skipping around my house, "Cause I've got a golden ticket!" I screamed and kissed my trainer card, "I've got a golden twinkle in my eye!"

My mom walked downstairs in her bathrobe, lavender like everything else in the damn house, and watched me jumping around singing. She smiled softly. I ran up to her and hugged her, still singing.

"I never had a chance to shine, never a happy song to sing, but suddenly half the world is mine, what an amazing thing!"

My mom rolled her eyes and clamped a hand over my mouth, "I'll go get dressed real quick, and drive you out to the breeder's house. Just wait a second."

She climbed back up the stairs, and I began nervously tap dancing until she came back down. So I was two times a freak. I could talk to Pokemon, and sing and dance. What's your point? Ten minutes later, my mom came back down the stairs, walking as slow as a Torkoal. Or at least that's what it seemed like to me. She had quickly brushed her hair and thrown on some sweats.

"Your father's staying home," she told me, "and I'll wait in the car. I'd break out in hives if I went in."

I nodded excitedly, my head almost snapping off. My parents had forced me to stay home until I was sixteen. I retaliated by randomly blurting facts about gym leaders at them. I had wanted to drive all the way out to Littleroot Town to get a normal starter, but my mom refused to drive that far. Instead, we were going to the breeding center in my small home town that was located right outside of Petalburg City.

I ran out of the house and jumped into the side door of my mom's minivan. My mom got in the driver's seat and smirked at me, "Did you forget something?"

I thought hard but couldn't think what I'd forgotten. My mom threw a granola bar at me.

"You forgot breakfast. You might want this too," she said and handed me a packet of Pokemon food, "For your new little friend."

I smiled, "Thanks mom!"

It must have been hard for her to go down to the Pokemon store to get this. After so many years without being around Pokemon, she had become somewhat frightened of them. We drove in silence, mostly because if my mom tried to say something, she'd start crying, and if I tried to say something, I'd start singing. I looked over at my mom and tried to make a picture of her in my mind. She had blonde hair like me, but her eyes were brown. I wanted to memorize her face so I wouldn't forget her on my journey, but she noticed me staring at her and I had to look away.

Finally, we arrived at the breeder's center. I jumped out of the car without saying anything, and ran for the door.

"Have fun!" my mom called.

I opened the door, and was greeted by an older woman who looked to be in her late forties. She was wearing a yellow dress, and had big brown eyes that made her look constantly frightened.

"Welcome," she said smiling at me, "I'll take you to see what we have for sale."

I followed her, nervously feeling the money in my pocket. I hoped it was enough. She led me down a hallway, and showed me the way to a huge room. In the room, were tons of cages, each holding a newborn Pokemon.

"You can go ahead and look around," the lady told me, but I was already gone.

"Pick me! Pick me!" every Pokemon was yelling.

Even though there weren't many people in the room, it was very loud. The air was filled with conversations about who would have the best trainer and who was going to get left behind. I paused at a display filled with Dratini, but left when I saw the price tags. I walked around the room in a circle, trying to find a Pokemon that felt right for me. Finally, I came to the last booth. There were many different Pokemon on it, and they didn't seem to have any kind of similarities. I found one of the breeders and tapped him on the back.

"What's different about those Pokemon?" I asked.

He shrugged, "Those are the rejects. If no one adopts them here, they'll be sold as test subjects or to a farm."

I shivered, but he turned away and didn't seem upset at all. By asking around, I found out that most of the rejects were there because they were too small or sick, and probably wouldn't live much longer, anyways. I still stubbornly decided to look at them.

One cage held an Azurill. She was laying on her side and breathing heavily. Her eyes were glazed over. I felt tears in my eyes and continued to the next cage. Here, I saw a small Elekid. He glared at me and tried to bite me. I flinched away. Most of the cages had Pokemon with similar problems, but in the last cage was a Pokemon I didn't know. It didn't seem to have anything wrong with it, so I tried to talk to it.

"Hey!" I called trying to get his attention.

The blue and black Pokemon looked around to see who was calling him. His tail flicked back and forth.

"Hey!" I said again, "Over here!"

He looked over at me with wide eyes, "Are you talking to me?"

"Yes," I said nodding, "What kind of Pokemon are you?"

"I'm a Shinx," he replied, "How can you understand me?"

I shrugged, "I don't know. Why are you over here?"

"My parents rejected me. The breeder figured something was wrong with me," he said nervously. I suspected he might be hiding something. Still...I felt like something about him clicked with me. I looked at the price tag. Only 200 Poke. Well, he was cheap.

"How would you like to go on my journey with me?" I asked.

"Do you mean it?" he looked like he was going to pass out.

I nodded, "Sure. I want you to be my first Pokemon."

He opened his mouth to respond, but couldn't make any noise. Then I heard, a squeaking sound. He opened his mouth again, and started to sing.

"I used to think baby you loved me, now baby I'm sure..." he continued singing for a few minutes.

I walked away to get a breeder to open the cage for me. The breeder looked at me seriously, "Are you sure? He's kind of strange."

I looked at the Shinx and saw that he was now trying to moonwalk around the cramped space in his cage.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

The breeder opened the cage, and the Shinx jumped into my arms.

"Best friends forever!" he yelled and wiggled around excitedly.

I checked out, my pocket still full of money. I held up the Pokeball to put him inside, but he started whimpering.

"Please don't make me go in there!" he screamed, "I hate those. I'm scared of the dark."

People were starting to stare, so I started to head for the door.

"Please stop crying," I said soothingly, "I promise I won't put you in there."

"Pinky promise?" he held out a paw.

"Sure."

He wrapped his whole paw around my little finger. I sighed and walked him out to the car.

"Why isn't that in a Pokeball?" my mom asked as soon as I opened the car door.

"He's afraid of being in Pokeballs. He screamed when I tried to put him in one."

My mom sighed, reached into her pocket, and pulled out a nose plug. She attached it and said, "I knew something like this would happen."

We drove home so I could eat lunch and say goodbye to Dad, before I was ready to leave. Me and my new Pokemon didn't manage to get on the road until one in the afternoon, but he didn't seem to mind. He was still humming as we walked out of town.

"I forgot to ask you," I told him, "What's your name?"

He thought for a minute, "I don't have one. But you can call me the Great Ruler of All Who Live."

"How about Sparky?"

He shook his head, "I want a noble name."

"How about we compromise and name you after a god?"

"Sure. How about Thor?"

"That works," I said, and we headed for Petalburg City.


	3. Vs Some Dumb Guy

Route 102 was beautiful, but uneventful. I had Thor beat the crap out of some wild Pokemon before arriving in Petalburg City. I had never been outside of my home town, and Petalburg was a big change. Skyscrapers cluttered the sky, and thousands of people swarmed around each other. It was like being in a Combee hive. By the time we reached the Pokemon Center, it was dark.

I rented a room, set my stuff down, and went to get something to eat.

"This is great," Thor said, "I love being in big cities. Where do you want to eat?"

I shrugged, "Why don't we go get some pizza?"

Thor agreed, and we found a good Italian restaurant. The pizza was delicious and we were having a pleasant conversation. People were staring at us, but who cared.

"What's your name anyway?" Thor asked me.

"Maria. It's not super interesting, but whatever."

I looked around the hole in the wall pizza place. The walls were covered in newspaper clippings describing important events. The downfall of Team Aqua and Magma, the rise of the current champion, Emerald. I refilled my Coke and came back to the table. Thor was staring out the window.

"Did you see that?" he was panting excitedly.

"What?" I glanced out the window.

"That Skitty that just walked by," he was now foaming at the mouth, "She was hot."

I stared. So the real reason my new best friend was at the rejects table had been revealed. Then I felt a tap on my back.

"Ma'am, could you please leave," it was the manager, "We don't except human/Pokemon couples here."

"What?" I screeched, before me and Thor were thrown out of the restaurant.

"Huh. Friendly guy," Thor mused.

"At least we were almost done eating," I sighed, "Let's head back for the Pokemon Center."

Back in our room, I discovered something.

"We don't have any beds." I announced to Thor.

"Why not?"

"Shit if I know," I sighed and spread some towels out on the floor, trying to make a sleeping area.

I curled up on my bed made up of towels and a blanket I had found in the dresser. My Pokemon journey was not exactly what I expected. However, it was...interesting. I felt Thor curl up against me and start to purr. I needed to catch more Pokemon. Our first gym would be against Roxanne, who used Rock-types. Thor didn't stand a chance alone. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

The next day, we checked out and headed for Route 104. I was glad to be out of the city, and found it relaxing to walk along the border between the ocean and Petalburg Woods. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of blue.

"What was that?" I said and tried to turn my head around 360 degrees.

"I didn't see-" Thor started, but then the blue blur appeared again. This time, I could see that it was Marill, and so could Thor.

"That's a girl!" he yelled his eyes bugging out of his head.

"And it's a water type. Go get her."

Thor ran towards her and I thought about what I had said.

"No wait!I didn't mean like that," I yelled and he stopped in his tracks, "Use Tackle!"

Thor plowed into the little blue mouse Pokemon, and knocked her over.

"Quick! While she's down, use Bite!"

He bit into her, and held on until she hit him with a Water Gun. Thor fell off of her, his fur soaking wet.

"Tackle her again!"

He knocked the Marill over again, and I threw a Pokeball. The ball rocked back and forth three times, before clicking shut. I picked up the ball and let the Marill out.

"Hi, Marill!"

The Marill looked around before asking, "You can talk?"

"Yeah, yeah. Long story. How are you?"

She paused, "Good."

"What's-" I started to ask her, but Thor popped up in between us and blurted, "Will you marry me?"

The Marill looked shocked before hitting him with another Water Gun.

"You'll do just fine here," I told her as Thor fell over and pretended to be getting stabbed in the heart, "What's your name?"

"My name is Puddle," she told me, "Don't laugh."

"I won't laugh, it's a nice name. I'm Maria, and that's Thor."

I looked over at Thor who was still miming dying.

"Is he always like that?" Puddle asked.

I shrugged, "I haven't known him long, but from what I can gather, yes."

Just then, a kid ran up to me.

"Are you a trainer?" he asked.

"No, I'm a mailman. That's why I have a Shinx and a Marill." 

"Oh, I was going to challenge you to a Pokemon battle."

I face palmed, before saying, "Yes, I'm a trainer."

He looked confused, "Oh, okay."

Without another word, he sent out a Zigzagoon. The little brown raccoon Pokemon shivered in excitement.

I sighed, "Go, Thor."

"Muffin, use Tackle!"

I snorted in laughter, "Muffin?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that name?" the trainer scowled at me.

"Nothing," I responded as the Zigzagoon bumped into Thor, "Bite it, Thor."

Thor seemed completely unaffected by the Tackle, and immediately jumped on the Zigzagoon and bit into the scruff on it's neck.

"Knock that thing off with Tail Whip," the annoying trainer cried.

The poor Zigzagoon tried to Tail Whip Thor, but couldn't bend it's tail behind it's back. It sat still waiting for another command.

"Finish it off with Spark!" I called to Thor.

Thor lit up like the Fourth of July, electricity surging through his body. He tackled the Zigzagoon, singing its fur and knocking it out.

The trainer scowled before calling his Zigzagoon back. He stomped off without another word.

Thor started singing "We Are The Champions", and Puddle had a pained look on her face.

"Please," she begged me, "Make it stop.

"GONE ARE THE LOSERS, FOR WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!" Thor was screaming.

Puddle hit him with a Water Gun, but he didn't seem to notice. Finally, we were at the entrance of Petalburg Woods. Thor stopped singing when he saw it.

"Well that's...creepy," he said.

Creepy was an understatement. The woods were completely dark inside, and I could here strange Pokemon cries. It sounded haunted. We were completely silent as we walked into the woods, not even Thor was making any noise. The woods were deathly still, and I felt a prickle of fear go down my spine. I heard something that sounded like a twig breaking, and a man in a green suit jumped out of a bush at me.

"Agh!" I screamed, "Shoot it! One of you shoot it! Please!"

The man and both of my Pokemon were staring at me.

"Dude," Thor said, "It's just some guy."

The man looked at me as though I might be dangerous before saying, "Have you seen any Shroomish around here? I really love that Pokemon."

"No, actually, I haven't seen any here, but there might be some-"

My awkward reply was cut out when another man came out of the bushes. This one was wearing a blue suit and seemed to be dressed like a pirate.

"I was waiting to ambush you when you left, but no, you had to dawdle in the woods looking for some stupid Shroomish!"

We all stared at him.

"Dawdle," Thor giggled, "That's a funny word."

"What are you staring at?" the blue pirate guy demanded, "Give me the Devon Goods."

The man in the green suit looked scared. "I'll never give them to you," he tried to say, but it came out as a squeak.

"Fine, I'll just have to make you give them up. Go, Poochyena!"

The pirate guy threw a Pokeball, and out popped the little black hyena Pokemon. It growled menacingly and took a step towards the guy in the green suit. The guy in the green suit screamed and hid behind me.

"What the hell! You're like, thirty and I'm sixteen."

His only response was to curl into the fetal position.

I sighed, "Go, Puddle! Use Water Gun!"

Puddle leaped into action and hosed down the Poochyena with a blast of icy cold water.

"Tackle, Poochyena!" the pirate guy called.

"Dodge that Tackle and use Rollout!"

Puddle jumped out of the way as the Poochyena raced towards her. She then curled up into a ball, and started rolling around the forest floor, kicking up pieces of debris that hit the Poochyena.

"Stop using Rollout and hit him with another Water Gun!" I shouted.

Puddle suddenly jumped up off the ground and fired off another Water Gun. It flattened Poochyena to the ground, and the soaking wet Pokemon didn't stand back up.

The pirate guy called back his Pokemon before screaming, "This isn't the last you'll here of Team Aqua," and running into the woods.

The man in the green suit got up off the ground and said, "Thanks for rescuing me. Here's a Great Ball."

He handed me the red and blue ball before walking off.

"I'm going to have an interesting time hanging out with you, aren't I?" Puddle asked.

"It looks like it," I responded, and we both watched Thor chase his tail in circles until he tripped over himself. I helped him to his feet and we continued walking towards Rustboro.


	4. Something Wicked This Way Comes

Faraway, on a distant mountain, sat a man. Nothing more, nothing less. The only thing that made this man different from any other, was that he was different. Not different in a good way, but different in a bad way. His hair was long and black, and hung down in front of his face. He was dressed in a simple pair of pants and a nice shirt. He didn't look evil, yet people always felt nervous around him. Very few knew who he was. He sniffed the air with disdain and his eyes widened.

"There is another," he murmured, and the ground before him opened up, revealing a Duskull.

The little skull Pokemon floated affectionately towards the man. It's single red eye began to glow, and a beam of energy connected the Duskull to the man. The beam of energy forced his hair away from his face, and connected with the man's soulless black eyes.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"It is no trouble for you, master," the Duskull's voice was a low, hissing sound. It could be mistaken for a trick of the wind.

"I am too weak to find her myself. Use the servants. Willingly or not, she will return here."

The Duskull nodded and disappeared, a grim smile on its face. The man stared as his partner left, though he could see nothing. When he felt the Pokemon's absence, he returned to meditating. There wasn't much to do on Mt. Pyre for a blind man.

The Duskull stared at her blind master as she left. She winced when she felt their connection break, and her journey through Chaos began. She felt the souls of the dead pull at her as she glided through the underworld. When she felt the presence of one of the goons, she floated upward towards the mortal realm.

She appeared next to a boiling volcano. She blinked rapidly as her eye got used to the bright light. She smiled when she noticed the look of fear on the stupid man's face as he looked at her.

"Hello, Maxie," she hissed.

Maxie composed himself before saying, "It is a pleasure to see you as well."

"Funny, you didn't look happy to see me," the Duskull growled.

Maxie's blood red eyes flashed with fear, "I was merely surprised. Has your master sent me a message?"

"Yes," the Duskull cackled, "If you see an unusual girl, you are too send him the sign."

"An unusual girl? How will I know who she is?" Maxie stuttered. He nervously ran a hand across his burgundy hair.

"You will know," Duskull said, and she cackled ominously as she sunk back into Chaos.

To find the other goon, Duskull would have to travel to more dangerous regions of Chaos. Here, violent souls were far more numerous, and the air reeked with the scent of death. The Duskull felt the hands grasping at her wispy gray cloak, trying to pull her into the abyss. Even she welcomed the light when she floated upwards towards the second goon.

This time, she found herself in a brightly lit room. She looked around and saw she was in the office of the second servant. A wide window showed her water Pokemon swimming around the submarine. This human also seemed frightened, though he recovered quicker.

"Greetings," he said bowing, "Are you here to give me a message?"

"Your grunt will soon be returning from his mission. He failed to retrieve the Devon Goods. He was stopped by a young girl. If you ever see this girl, send the master a sign."

Archie looked confused, and his deep blue eyes were shining with emotion, "I can do that," he said finally.

"Good," hissed the Duskull as she disappeared again.

Archie watched her fade for a moment, his head spinning with confusion, when he heard a knock on his door. He opened the door, and saw an Admin standing there.

"Greetings, Leader Archie," the Admin said, saluting him.

"At ease, Admin. What do you need?"

The Admin looked uncomfortable as he said, "The mission to retrieve the Devon Goods has failed. What should we do with the grunt?"

The Admin thought he saw surprise flash across Archie's face before he said, "Feed him to the Sharpedo. Don't bother me again unless it's important, I'm busy."

Archie shut the door in the Admin's face, and turned on the TV in his office. He switched to the security camera function, and watched the Pokemon storage room. He waited a few minutes, until he saw the guards throw the grunt into the Sharpedo pool. As he heard the grunt's screams and saw the water in the pool turn red, his muscles relaxed and Archie felt a grin spread across his face. He told himself there was nothing to worry about, and spent the rest of the afternoon rewatching the security tape.


	5. We Will, We Will, Rock You

I blinked as I stepped out of the darkness of Petalburg Woods. The sun warmed my skin, and I stood still, basking in the light for a minute. So far, my journey had been...not what I expected. It wasn't bad, just strange. Still, I felt anxious about something. I pushed the nervousness away, thinking it just had to do with my rapidly approaching gym battle. My thoughts were interrupted when Thor started yelling about something.

"Let's go in there! I just saw, like, twenty chicks in there!" he was screeching.

I looked up the road to see what he was talking about. A few hundred yards away, was a tiny shop. Upon closer inspection, it was a gardening store. Thor was now looking a bit rabid, so I agreed to go inside. Thor's eyes got huge when he saw an incredible crowd of three women inside. They all stared at us, or rather, Thor as he ran around in circles trying to contain his excitement.

"He's a bit...sick," I mumbled to the frightened cashier.

"I'm sorry for his illness, but he's upsetting my customers," she said and handed me a few berries apologetically.

Puddle helped me drag Thor out the door. Even with her help it was almost impossible. Thor sighed once he realized I wasn't going to let him back inside.

"Why did we have to leave? They were checking me out!" Thor protested.

"They were checking you out," I told him, "In the same way a group of friends might 'check out' a slasher film."

Thor seemed to be pouting for a minute, but it didn't last long. Instead, he started singing "Take It Easy" by The Eagles.

"What are 'eagles' anyway?" Puddle asked me as we walked.

I shrugged as Thor sang, "We may lose or we may win, but we'll never be here again." At the time, I didn't know how true those words were. I started singing along. After a minute, Puddle decided she was resigned to her fate, and started singing too. By the time we reached town, we were singing passionately at the top of our lungs. Puddle and I stopped when we noticed people staring, but nothing could stop Thor when he got his groove on. I stopped at the Poke Center, but didn't rent a room.

"I'm not going another night without a bed," I explained to Thor and Puddle.

I walked to a cheap looking motel and checked out a room.

"Could you ask your Shinx to stop making that noise?" the man at the counter asked.

I slipped him another bill, and took our room key. As we walked down the corridor to our room I began to get a weird feeling. It might have had something to do with the unidentifiable stains on the walls and ceiling. When I opened the door to our room, even Thor was shocked into complete silence.

"Maybe we should've just gotten a free room at the Poke Center," Thor said.

I gritted my teeth, and said, "I don't care how bad it is, I'm sticking by my decision."

And the room was bad. Imagine the worst motel room you can. It was ten times worse than that. It was so bad, it had it's own Richter Scale of awfulness. The room did have a bed, but it was nasty looking, and there were brown, yellow, and white stains that I really, really didn't want to think about. The stains were also all over the wall, ceiling, carpet, and bathroom. The room had a TV, but it was mostly destroyed. Only half of it was left, and there were odd burn marks on it. I started to walk towards the bathroom when Thor rushed out of it.

"Don't go in there," he said, "Please don't go in there, I love you guys too much."

It was the first time I had seen fear in his eyes, but I went in the bathroom anyway. It can't be any worse than the rest of the room, I mistakenly thought. It was worse. Let me just suffice to say, that there were the same stains as before, but with new blood stains. The shower was filled with mold and the drain was clogged with some substance I didn't want to stare at for too long.

"What could screw up a room this bad?" I cried in exasperation.

"Don't think about it," Thor said wisely, "That way madness lies. Just like you shouldn't think about what Kanto Fried Pidgey really is. There's no way it's meat. None," he started laughing nervously and I thought I saw a tear in the corner of his eye.

Puddle was standing in the middle of the room looking like she was trying to figure out a way to keep from touching anything. I laid down a jacket on the floor for Thor and Puddle to sleep on.

"Thank you," Puddle said.

"You'll probably have to burn this later," Thor advised me.

I tried to go to sleep, but I wasn't tired and neither were Thor or Puddle. I looked at the clock. It was only eight.

"Want to go get some food?" I asked.

"Yes, please, get me out of here," Puddle said, "I don't know to pray to God, Mew, or whoever, but get me the hell out of here."

Thor simply yawned and followed me out. We went to a McDugtrio's. Right then, I just needed the comfort of something familiar. Thor was eating a Big Mac and trying to play 'Would You Rather?' with me and Puddle, but he wasn't having much success.

"Would you rather go out with a Jynx or get eaten by a Tyranitar?" he asked.

"Stop being racist," Puddle scolded him and whacked him on the head.

"How is that racist? Would you go out with a Jynx?" Thor asked.

At that moment, a Jynx walked by our table. She glared at Thor and kept walking. Me and Puddle busted up laughing, but Thor sunk deep into his seat and blushed deeply. We finished our food and left the restaurant. I looked around the city. It was bigger than Petalburg but didn't have as many big buildings. The only huge building was the Devon Corporation office, which was about ten stories and was pretty much the city's entire skyline. As we walked back to the motel, me, Puddle, and Thor were having a quiet conversation. We were getting stares from people, but I didn't really mind. Suddenly, I felt someone grab me and pull me into an alley. I saw two guys grab Puddle and Thor too. I screamed for help, but nobody seemed to notice or care.

"Hey freak, how about you and your buddies fork over some money?" the thug asked me.

He was wearing the same stupid white t-shirt, hoodie, and huge baggy pants that every dumb ass pretending to be gangster did.

"How about, hell no!" I said.

Then, he pulled out a gun and held it to Thor's head.

"Hey, there's no problem here dawg," Thor said trying to weasel himself out of the situation, "Cool that barrel, man. Maria gon' hand over some green, right baby?"

Suddenly, everything seemed to slow down. In the back of my mind I saw an image of the kid pulling the trigger and Thor's brains carpeting the alley. I saw him turn the gun to Puddle and pull the trigger again. I saw her white chest stained with blood. Something in the back of my head clicked, and everything went from slow motion to fast forward. I jumped forward and knocked the thug over. I heard the gun go off, once, twice, three times. I screamed in anger and punched the gangster in the face. His friends had run off, and all I could see was him and me. I snarled and punched him again, before grabbing his wrist and squeezing. I heard bones crunch and his hand went limp. He dropped the gun to the ground. He was screaming in pain and I saw tears in his eyes. I grabbed the gun and pointed it at him.

He dropped down to the ground crying, "Please don't shoot me, I was just playin'! I wasn't gonna shoot you and your Pokemon."

I walked back towards him, the gun still pointing at his head.

"You're never going to do anything like this again," I told him, "You're going to be a perfect model of citizenship. You will go get a job, you will be kind and respectful, and if I ever hear of you pulling this kind of shit again, I will find you, and I will kill you."

"Thank you, Miss. Thank you," he held his hand out.

"You think I'm giving you this back?" I said pointing to the gun, "I'm keeping this."

I walked away from him.

"Thor, Puddle, where are you guys?"

My Pokemon slunk out from behind a garbage can. They were both looking incredulous.

"What did you just do?" Thor asked me.

I shook my head, "I don't know. Let's just get back to the motel."

The crowds had now thinned, and we walked in silence back to our seedy motel.. When we got to our room, Thor started questioning me.

"How did you do that?"

"I don't know," I admitted.

"When did you learn to kick so much ass?"

"I don't know," I said again.

His questions proceeded to get stupider and stupider until I finally got annoyed.

"I don't know what happened!" I snapped, "By the way, where the hell were you? Why didn't you use Spark or something?"

Thor's ears laid back against his head and his tail hung down between his legs. "I'm sorry," he muttered.

I felt terrible. "It's okay," I told him, and ignoring the disgustingness of the floor, I sat down next to him and held him in my arms, "You guys couldn't help it," I reached over to where Puddle was laying on my jacket and started to pet her too, "I was just scared."

I laid down and tried to fall asleep on the stained carpet, holding both of my Pokemon in my arms. I twisted and turned for a long time thinking about the night's events. How could I do stuff like this? Was I a superhero? Did it have something to do with my ability to talk to Pokemon? I didn't understand anything, and finally, I excepted my ignorance and drifted into a deep sleep. My sleep was uninterrupted, except for a deep feeling of anxiety. When I woke up, it was only six in the morning, but I didn't want to go back to sleep. I looked through my bag, and found a worn copy of Pokemon Farm. I began reading, and by nine, I was reading the final words of the book.

"The Pokemon looked from Spoink to man, and from man to Spoink, and from Spoink to man again, but already it was impossible to say which was which."

Maybe it doesn't matter who's who, I thought to myself. As I closed the book, Thor and Puddle began to stir.

"Ready for our first gym battle?" I asked.

"Maybe, maybe not," Thor said as he stretched, "I have a feeling I'm not going to be doing a huge amount of good."

"I'm ready," Puddle said and stood by my side.

I packed my stuff up, and gave the room key back to the man at the front desk. He glared at me suspiciously before accepting it. I yawned as we exited the crappy motel. I was happy to be out of it, and to be in the open air. It was another sunny day, though I made sure to stay away from the alleys at the end of each street.

On the way to the gym, Thor told me, "I have a name for you."

"Good job," I said rolling my eyes, "But I already have a name. It works pretty good for me."

"Not a normal name," Thor told me, "A superhero name."

"I'm not a superhero, Thor."

"Yes you are, you kick ass, have special powers that normal people don't, and you would look good in a leather outfit," Thor explained.

"Okay, I'm going to forget about the last part. Fine, what's my superhero name?"

Thor was quiet for a minute before he said, "I didn't actually have one. I figured you wouldn't want to hear it."

Puddle face palmed and I was tempted to join her.

"That doesn't mean we can't think of one though!" Thor said, "How about Supergirl?"

"I think that's taken."

"Wonder Woman?"

"Ditto."

"Ditto? Where?"

"It's just an expression."

The conversation continued like that until we reached the gym. Standing in front of it, Thor finally grew quiet. I walked through the door and saw a maze made of rock. There were two paths, so I picked one and followed it. After about thirty seconds, I found my way to Roxanne. She was wearing a school girl outfit and had bows in her hair. The problem with this was that she looked like she was in her late twenties, so it came off kind of creepy.

"Were you astounded by the difficulty of my stone maze?" Roxanne cackled at me.

"Um, not really," I said and Roxanne gasped.

"Then you must truly be a worthy opponent! Let's duel!" Roxanne reached into her pocket and threw a Pokeball. "Go, Geodude!"

"Did you just say duel?" I asked, "This is Pokemon, not Yu-Gi-Oh."

"What's Yu-Gi-Oh?" Thor asked.

I ignored him and said, "Go, Puddle!"

Puddle stepped forward and growled at the ball of rock in front of her.

"Use Water Gun!" I told her.

She sent out a jet of water that hit the Geodude straight in the face. It blasted him into the side of the gym, and he fainted.

"Drat! I'll have to change my strategy," Roxanne said under her breath, "I'll have to send out...Geodude!"

She sent out a Geodude that looked exactly the same as the first. I decided to have some fun with this.

"Good play," I said trying to sound serious, "You've completely turned the battle around in your favor."

She smiled and said, "Geodude, use Tackle!"

The Geodude hurtled toward Puddle, and seemed to bounce off of her. She looked vaguely confused, and hit the Geodude with a Water Gun without me having to say anything. The Geodude fell to the ground. Thor started laughing from the sidelines, but I guess Roxanne couldn't figure out what he was doing.

"You may be strong," she told me, "But your Shinx is crying with fear."

Thor started laughing harder. He looked like he was about to break a rib.

"What are you going to send out next?" I asked her, "Another Geodude?"

"That's a good guess," she told me, "But in fact, I am going to send out...Nosepass!" she pulled out another Pokeball and dropped it to the ground.

From the Pokeball came a Pokemon much bigger than either Geodude. It looked a little bit like an Easter Island head with legs.

"Use Rock Tomb, Nosepass!" Roxanne said.

Suddenly, I noticed all the boulders attached to the ceiling. They began to shake ominously.

"Uh oh," was all I had time to say before the rocks started to fall.

Puddle dodged most of them, but one of the larger ones struck her, and she looked injured.

"Let's end this quick! Use Water Gun!"

Puddle blasted the Nosepass with a Water Gun. The Nosepass cringed in pain, but kept fighting.

"Use Tackle, my glorious Nosepass!" Roxanne cried.

Suddenly, the big ass rock started running, faster, and faster, and faster.

"Hit him with another Water Gun!" I yelled.

Puddle managed to shoot off a last Water Gun in the Nosepass's face before being trampled. She stood up for a moment, then collapsed back to the floor. She crawled to the edge of the battle field and passed out. I looked over at Thor.

"Oh shit," he said.

"Come on, Thor!"

Roxanne took one look at him before laughing, "You plan on fighting my beautiful rock Pokemon with a lowly electric type? May death come to you quickly! Use Rock Tomb again Nosepass!"

Nosepass looked very weak, but he nodded and the boulders attached to the ceiling began to shake again.

"Quick, use Spark!"

Thor began to glow as electricity began to shoot across his body. He turned to the Nosepass and started running. Right as the first ricks started falling, he tackled the Nosepass, knocking him over. A rock hit Thor and he fell down as well.

Roxanne stared at the battle field. "If Nosepass stands up, I win. If he does not, you do."

Neither Pokemon stirred, and Roxanne turned to me, "Noble challenger, I present to you the Stone Badge," she said and attached the badge to my trainer card.

I scooped Thor up off the floor.

"Can I have a look at him?" Roxanne asked.

"Sure," I said and handed him over, "But be careful. I don't know where he's been.

"It's quite remarkable for an electric type to conquer one of my Pokemon," she said.

As Roxanne looked him over, Thor's eyes flickered open, "I'm in heaven," he said his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

"I believe he has brain damage," she announced when she saw the look he was giving her.

"Nah, that's just how he is."

I picked up Puddle and took both of them to the Pokemon Center.

When Thor woke up, he started singing Another One Bites The Dust. Just another average day in the life of a trainer. We walked outside, and I was immediately thrown to the ground by one of the blue pirate guys I remembered as Team Aqua.

"You'll never catch me," he cried as he ran by.

"Wait-" the same man in the green suit stopped in his tracks, panting for breath.

Suddenly, he looked over at me and smiled. I had a feeling I was going to be making a citizen's arrest soon.


End file.
